They'd probably scramble jets in Favre's airspace, too

What, no Al Cowlings?

Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe says he had no clue that QB Brett Favre was pulling into training camp until he saw a sign from above.

"I figured that out when I left the facility and saw the helicopters," Shiancoe told SIRIUS NFL Radio. "Either they were chasing O.J. again, or Brett's back."

Shear badness

Broncos rookie QB Tim Tebow missed two straight days of practice this week, putting his home preseason debut in question.

Apparently it's a combination of bruised ribs and a bad hair day.

Plug your ears

Hear about HBO's new viewer-advisory warning for this year's "Hard Knocks" episodes with the Jets?

They're rated Rex.

The legal grind

The 49ers will reportedly seek to recoup three-fourths of the $828,000 signing bonus they gave second-year running back Glen Coffee, who abruptly quit the team to go into the ministry.

Lawyers for Coffee, no doubt, will claim insufficient grounds.

Fat Chance Dept.

JaMarcus Russell, the corpulent ex-quarterback, told ESPN he's hoping an NFL team will give him another shot.

Or as he prefers to call it, seconds.

Awed couple

Colts receiver Reggie Wayne and QB Peyton Manning? It's a special pairing.

"After 10 years, you tend to know somebody pretty good," Wayne told Yahoo! Sports. "It's scary that sometimes I know what he's thinking before he says anything. After so much time and doing it over and over again, I guess we're married, I don't know."

Stress in the City

A Forbes magazine survey says America's most stressful city is:

a) Las Vegas

b) Los Angeles

c) Minneapolis-St. Paul, at least until Brett Favre shows up at training camp.

Talking points

• Matt Youmans of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, after the Jonas Brothers' softball team beat some ESPN personalities 3-0: "For some reason, the highlights were not on 'SportsCenter.' "

• Headline at SportsPickle.com: "Reggie Bush says he would give back Matt Leinart's Heisman if he could."

• Montana Tech football coach Bob Green, to the Montana Standard, on his coaching brethren who claim they ignore the polls: "They remind me of the guys who say they buy Playboy magazine to read the articles. We all take a peek."

Naked Bootleg Dept.

The Lingerie Football League has scored a TV deal — 20 episodes of "LFL Presents: Friday Night Football on MTV2," debuting Sept. 3

As if women who play in skimpy underwear need any more exposure.

Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com